A case study of knowledge management in a large software company: How knowledge workers cope with large amounts of information

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A case study of knowledge management in a large software company: How knowledge workers cope with large amounts of

information

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Abstract

This master thesis is a qualitative case study, carried out at Microsoft Norway. I have investigated different processes and strategies that are used for information distribution, work performance measurement, and learning in the organization. The thesis is

interdisciplinary, and adopts theoretical perspectives from sociology, pedagogy and informatics. The main theme of the thesis is Knowledge Management (KM), in the context of strategies for information management and learning in an organization in the knowledge- based society.

KM strategies in the organization provide the employees with large amounts of

information, and a finding of this study is that the amount of information can be a source of stress for some employee. It is important for the employees to have strategies to cope with the information in order to feel that they can master their work situation. I have identified two forms of information management: managing information flow, and managing

information demand. These categories are dependent on whether or not the employees get required information from the organization, or seek it out on their own initiatives. Finally, I discuss how of information management is related to learning from a pedagogical

perspective. I also discuss the notion of corporate culture in relation to KM strategies, and conclude that KM strategies in this case study have become an integrated part of the corporate culture and normal work practice.

Keywords: Corporate Culture, Information Management, Knowledge Intensive Firm, Knowledge Management, Microsoft, Primary Work, Secondary Work

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3 Acknowledgements

This is the final day of one year of intensive work with this thesis, and more than five years of university studies. This would not have been possible to accomplish without the help and support from people around me.

I would like to thank my supervisor Anders Mørch for useful feedback and support

throughout the writing process. You have given me many new perspectives and ideas when I have needed it, and I have learned lot during this process.

I also want to thank Microsoft Norway for the opportunity to conduct my study there, and all employees who have participated. Especially I would like to thank Pia and Pardis who have been very helpful!

Thank you, Lars Groth, and the students at the TOOL – master seminars, for listening to my unstructured ideas in the beginning of the project, giving me feedback for how to move on with the thesis. Also, a big thanks to the other master students at InterMedia, for all the interesting (more or less relevant) discussions, you have made my master student period a lot more fun!

A special thanks to Jørgen Taxt Walnum, with whom I have cooperated during the data collection period, and who gave me a lot of valuable comments and discussions during the whole process.

I have had a great time as a master student at InterMedia and would like to thank everyone there, for the letting me be a part of their good working milieu for more than one year.

Finaly but not the least I would like say thank you to my husband for supporting me,

encouraging me, and believing in me- Always!! You are the best! And to my two wonderful daughters for keeping up with a somewhat absent-minded and stressed mother during this period.

Oslo, July 2010, Elin Hultkivst

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1 Introduction and Background

During my years of studies, I do not think there is any subject that has been mentioned more often in almost all classes and syllabi than the changes in society due to the rapid growth in use of information technology. From a working life perspective, these changes involve new forms for communication, unlimited access to information, new technologies for development, and new forms of personnel strategies. I have a special interest in the latter. I have tried to gain more knowledge about personnel strategies whenever I have had the opportunity during my studies. I have also been working as an assistant in Human Resources for Texas Instruments Norway, which has increased my curiosity about different strategies used for personal management and development. This interest was the point of departure for my thesis. My first intention was to focus on the combination of Human Resource (HR) strategies and information technology (IT). I have considered several subjects on this theme, but it was natural for me to focus on knowledge management and learning since they appeared to have a central role in the work related to the Human Resources (HR) department at Microsoft. I will discuss the terms HR and Knowledge Management (KM) later in my thesis.

1.1 TOOL

I am an interdisciplinary student in the Bachelor and Master degree program, TOOL, which stands for Technology, Organization, and Learning. TOOL is a program that combines the studies of sociology, pedagogy, and informatics. The requirements for a TOOL thesis include at least two different theoretical perspectives representing the three areas covered in the program. This thesis focuses on technology based strategies for information management and learning. Without doubt, this theme covers more than one research field.

In Chapter 3, I present the theoretical foundations for the thesis. The chapter is divided into three parts: 1) The New Working life, 2) Knowledge Management, and 3) Learning at Work.

The first part of the chapter presents a sociological perspective; the second part is interdisciplinary, but includes theoretical perspectives from the field of information technology. The last part focuses on pedagogical approaches to learning at work.

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7 1.2 Research question

The aim of this thesis is to study personnel strategies in relation to the work and technology in a knowledge-based society at its most general level. The research question has emerged during my work on this thesis, from a more diffuse consideration of HR strategies and ICT, to KM strategies and learning, and finally to its current specific form. I have been interested in finding out how employees working as product specialists¹ perceive KM strategies, especially in relation to learning. I focus on product specialists because I learned from the exploratory interview data that product specialists need to have a continuing learning process in order to keep up with product updates and launches. A product specialist is defined as an employee who has his/her work role connected to a specific product and has some form of “expert knowledge” regarding this product. In the research question, I define this group of employees as knowledge workers. If and why this can be an appropriate description is a subject of my discussion.

The research question to be addressed in this thesis is

How can knowledge management strategies help knowledge workers to cope with large amounts of information, and how is this related to learning?

1.3 Microsoft Norway and Knowledge Management

This research is a case study conducted at Microsoft Norway at Lysaker, which is outside of Oslo. In many ways, Microsoft can be viewed as representing the knowledge society. The company embodies the concept of an innovative knowledge and technology based firm. It has to be sensitive and adaptable to every change in society, and it only employs highly educated, young, and ambitious people that are passionate about their jobs.

This was the general impression I had after conducting interviews with several informants. I will come back to this theme in section 6.1.1. Overall, there is an explicit focus on competence, learning, and development in the organization, which is evident even in the

1 In order to avoid misunderstandings I want to clarify that for the purposes of this thesis, a product specialist does not refer to a developer of any kind, but to someone who has a thorough knowledge about a specific software product, and works in sales and marketing.

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8 office environment. The picture below shows a corridor connecting two departments. The hanging chairs create a quiet “bubble” aimed for thinking and reflection; and on the walls are written words such as dynamic, effectively, learning, innovation, initiative, and glow.

The words represent values that are supposed to be emphasised at Microsoft. I find it very interesting to investigate personnel strategies in this context.

Figure 1.1 Interior picture from Microsoft Norway, Lysaker

This thesis includes a description of the human resource strategies adopted by Microsoft, which constitute the basis for the assumption of knowledge management strategies in Microsoft Norway. When I use the term knowledge management system, or knowledge management strategies at Microsoft I refer to the technical (IT) system including the role guide, career plan, and development plan and related courses and strategies. An example is the talent management cycle. I will describe these strategies and tools in Chapter 2.

The term knowledge management has not been used explicitly by anyone at Microsoft during this study, but compared to the thesis’ theoretical framework and previous research, I find it convenient to categorize these strategies under the umbrella term knowledge management. The term is discussed further in section 6.1.2.

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9 1.4 Thesis outline

The thesis is organized as follows:

Chapter 1 – Gives an introduction to the thesis, background information, and presents the research question.

Chapter 2 - Presents Microsoft Norway, and describes strategies and tools used for human resource management and learning.

Chapter 3 – Presents theoretical perspectives that relates to the research question. The chapter is divided in to three parts: The New Working Life, Knowledge Management, and Learning at Work.

Chapter 4 – Presents methodological considerations: Why and how to conduct a case study, the process of data collection and analysis, and a discussion of validity, reliability and

generalizability in qualitative research.

Chapter 5 – Presents empirical analysis, data categories, and findings.

Chapter 6 – Discusses the research question in light of the theoretical framework and empirical findings.

Chapter 7 – Conclusions

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2 The Case and Context

Because Microsoft is a well-known company, I will therefore start this chapter with only a short description of the company, followed by a description of the organizational structure and an explanation of the sales process. I will then describe some of the human resource strategies in Microsoft Norway, with a focus on learning and development.

Figure 2.1 Interior picture from the reception at Microsoft Norway

2.1 Microsoft Norway

Microsoft is one of the world’s leading it-companies in software, services, and solutions. The company was established in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Microsoft Norway is a subsidiary that was established in 1990. Microsoft Norway is a part of the Sales, Marketing, Services, IT, & Operations Group (SMSG), which spans all Microsoft products, services, and technologies. Microsoft Norway works with sales and marketing of software, customer support and services within the business divisions Windows Client, Information Worker, Server & Tools, and Microsoft Business Solutions. There is no product or software development in Norway--apart from the Norwegian company FAST, which became a Microsoft subsidiary in 2008. Microsoft Norway works with sales, mainly through their more

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11 than 2000 partners. The most important task for Microsoft Norway is to provide their partners with the best prerequisites and up-to-date knowledge in order to sell Microsoft products.

2.1.1 Organization

The Norwegian organization consists of four large departments, four smaller departments, and STAB functions. Enterprise Partner Group (EPG) and Small Midmarket Solutions & Partners (SMS&P) are two sales departments working with different customer segments. Business Marketing Operations (BMO) both takes care of promotions, campaigns, information about products and coordinates sales and marketing across the organization.

Services is the largest department and employs technical consultants working with partners to install, integrate, and support products for customers. Development Evangelism (DPE), Entertainment and Devices (EDD), Original Equipment Factory (OEM), and Consumer &

Online (C&O) are all smaller departments. In addition, there are STAB functions: Human Resources (HR), Public Relations (PR), Finance, and Customer and Partner Experience (CPE).

Figure 2.2 Organizational chart

I have interviewed three employees from the HR department regarding strategies and tools used for learning and development in Microsoft. Regarding the investigation of how knowledge workers perceive their learning, I have interviewed employees working as

Microsoft Norge SMSG

BMO

Business Marketing Organization

EPG

Enterprise Partner Group

STAB

HR, PR, Finance, CPE

SMS&P

small mid- market solutions &

partners

Services

Technical consultatns

DPE EDD OEM C&O

STU

Special Technical Unit

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12 technical experts in the sales departments and as product managers in BMO. I will expand on this investigation in section 4.2.2.

2.1.2 Sales process

Microsoft Norway is a sales organization. To understand the structures of work processes, it is important to know the sales process. As mentioned above, the customer segment is divided in two sales departments according to the size of the customer groups.

The Enterprise Partner Group (EPG) targets the 160 largest customers. Small mid-market solution partners (SMSP) works with partners who in turn sell to small and midsize customers. Within each department, there are five or six customer teams. In EPG, the customer teams work directly with the largest customers. One team has responsibility for one or a few customers. In SMSP the customer teams work mainly with partners. The customer teams consist of an account manager who is responsible for the customer, and an account technical specialist who has control of the customer´s IT structure. Connected to the EPG department is the Special Technical Unit (STU), which consists of 12 people. The STU employees work as experts in different products and solutions. They are involved in the sale process by the account manager, and their task is to complement the customer team in the sales process by providing expertise in specific fields. The majority of the informants in this thesis are employed in STU.

Figure 2.3 Sales process

EPG

SMSP

160 largest customers

………

Smal and midsize customers

Partners

STU Microsoft Norge

SMSG

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13 2.1.3 Employees in Norway

Microsoft has about 250 permanent employees and approximately 70 external consultants (hired from a recruiting company) working at the Norwegian office. Around 70%

of the employees are men and the average age is 37 years. Higher education is a criterion for employment, preferably at the master degree level. Before hiring, employees are evaluated by personality and ability tests, in addition to being interviewed by the closest manager, mid-manager, Human Resource representative and, when relevant, a technical specialist. Microsoft has a salary model where performance-related pay constitutes a significant part. All employees take part in a bonus system, and when they are hired they receive shares in the company. When starting at Microsoft, employees take part in a local Norwegian introduction course and New Hire Academy, which is a global program for helping new employees to identify what is important to learn in order to succeed at Microsoft.

2.1.4 Human resource strategies

The organization consists of standardized professions, or so called work roles, which are the same worldwide. Examples of work roles are Solution Sales Specialist, Partner Technology Advisors and Product Manager. Microsoft states that when evaluating a potential employee, the candidate should first be evaluated with regard to a long-term career in the company, and secondly in accordance with the actual profession. This evaluation process implies a strategy in which people often move between different professions within the company. On the website Microsoft.com one can read a statement from an employee named Ian:

It’s been new roles, new titles, new challenges every year or so. I finally stopped putting my title on my business card years ago because it was getting out-of-date so quickly.

(Microsoft.com, 2010a)

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14 2.1.5 Role-guide and career plan

All employees have a role guide, which is a description of the job--its requirements, goals, and training--in accordance with the employee’s work role. In addition, permanent employees have a career plan in which they explicate what their ambitions are in Microsoft, and how they intend to fulfil them. The career path options are in general to focus on an area of expertise, or move across functions or businesses to experience the breadth of different positions. On Microsoft’s website, Careers (Microsoft.com) there is a clear focus on career development and the multiple possibilities the company offers.

Our career model is a framework and set of tools that gives you a consistent way to manage your career, identify opportunities for progress, and document your results. The model will help you understand how to take control of your career and provide context for the vast resources we offer to help you succeed. As part of your development, you’ll have the option to engage in some 2,000 training programs taught by instructors from leading educational institutions and offered online, virtually, or in classrooms around the globe. You can’t beat the level of investment we place on career development. (Microsoft.com, 2010a)

Figure 2.4. Career plan for an employee at Microsoft Norway

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2.1.6 Development plan

In August of every year, the employee and the manager work out a development plan for the employee. The development plan includes goals and commitments that the employee shall achieve in both sale and profits and in training and personal development.

The plan is meant as a tool for both the employee and the manager to be able to measure performance. During the year, employees have an appraisal meeting with their manager once a month. This is for communication, information, and feedback on the development plan.

Figure 2.5. Talent Management Cycle

The talent management cycle shows how the development plan is followed up during the year. The MS Poll is a survey/study examining employee’s relations with their managers, teams and units, how they feel about their work role and development, customer relations, and balance between work life and personal life. The results of this study form the foundation for actions and changes in the organization. Manager feedback is the employees’

opportunity to give systematic feedback to their manager on how the manager-employee relation is working out.

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16 Table 1 gives an overview of the three tools--role-guide, career plan, and development plan.

It categorizes the purpose of the tools, what they contain, and how they are associated to learning strategies:

Table 2.1 Tools for knowledge management

Purpose Content Training

Role guide Identify the employees role in the organizational structure

Segment (SMSG)

Profession (Sales and Technical Sales) Discipline( Solution Sales)

Career Stage (Manager) Region (Norway) Customer segment (EPG)

(text in parenthesis is my examples)

Online courses required for the work role. Online courses

recommended for the work role.

Career plan Develop employee’s career in a long-term perspective.

Employee’s ambitions Development options Possible job opportunities

Explicate how to reach the ambitions and to gain experience and knowledge for new job opportunities.

Developmen t plan

Control and measurements of work performance

Work commitments and goals.

Subjects for personal training and development.

Training and development in current work role

2.2 Learning in Microsoft

Learning/training initiatives for employees in Microsoft can be divided into three dimensions:

1. Courses and training specialized for the work-role. These are mainly online courses/e-learning, but also can be external courses and conferences.

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17 2. Face-to-face learning on the job. Learning by experience, interaction with colleagues,

Friday lunch presentations.

3. Learning by seeking information when needed. SharePoint libraries with product presentations, auto-groups, wikis, blogs.

2.2.1 Courses

There are more than 2000 courses and training programs to maintain employee competence levels and ensure that all employees are up to date regarding products and development in Microsoft. The various types of courses are:

 e-learning, where one first watches an information/instruction video and then takes a test

 live video meeting/conferences where an instructor gives a lecture and employees all over the world follow on video/communicator

 podcasts and videos of presentations and courses for streaming and download

 traditional classroom learning with internal or external lectures

All role guides contain courses that are required for the employee in a specific profession. In addition, there are several courses recommended for the profession. These courses are typically web-based e-learning and deal with themes such as products, updates and new features, customer relations, and ethics. The required courses are always present in the employees training plan, which is a part of the role guide. The courses should be completed by a certain date and are arranged in levels 100, 200, 300, or 400 according to how advanced they are within their theme. If the employee is familiar with the content in the course, it is possible to take a test-out, which is a knowledge test to see if it is necessary to take the course.

Below is a screenshot from an employee’s training plan. (This employee is not a permanent employee, but hired from a recruiting company. That is why it says on the right

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18 hand side that the course is not associated to competencies (development plan) and career stage (plan). Those plans involve only permanent employees)

Figure 2.6 Screenshot from an employee’s training plan

All employees have the opportunity to attend one conference a year that is suited to their professions or products. The conference can be internal, only including Microsoft employees, or external, including customers as well. At the conference, there are different sessions in learning and information. Many of these are recorded and available on videos and podcasts on Microsoft web for the rest of Microsoft staff.

2.2.2 Breakfast meeting

Every Friday, employees and managers meet for breakfast and receive the latest information about business, activities, products, and customers. The occasion is used for knowledge sharing and learning that concerns the whole organization. Once a month, the

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19 breakfast meeting is followed by a learning session where different Microsoft products are examined; for example, how to work more efficiently with Outlook.

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3 Theoretical perspectives

In this chapter, I will present the theoretical perspectives that I have chosen for this thesis, and which I will use to shed light on my empirical findings and research questions.

The chapter is divided in three sections, which also represent the three academic disciplines that constitute the base for the TOOL-master program: Sociology, informatics and pedagogy. The first part presents theoretical perspectives on changes in modern society and working life. I will introduce the terms Knowledge Society, Knowledge Worker and Knowledge Intensive Firm. This section is primarily based on theories that have their point of departure in a sociological perspective. The second section discusses the concept of Knowledge Management. I will give an overview of history and different approaches, and finally present a previous study on Knowledge Management in Microsoft. Knowledge Management is an interdisciplinary research field but belongs primarily to informatics. The last theoretical section presents some pedagogical perspectives on working life learning.

3.1

The new working life

It is argued that society has entered a new era, where the epochal shift lies in the turn from stable to turbulent markets and rapid technological change, particularly in information technology, and focus on uncontrollability, chaos, flexibility, and disorganization. (Alvesson, 2004 p.6)

Since the beginning of the 1980s, there has been a large number of books and articles published that discuss the changes in the economy and modern society. The major theme is that society has gone through a paradigmatic shift from the industrial society characterized by theories that emphasize control and measurements in order to systemize work on the assembly line². Until today, when terms like flexibility, differentiation, information- technology, and knowledge define key characteristics. (Thompson and McHugh, 2002, Olberg, 2003). Thompson and McHuge (2002) gives an overview of selected contributions to

2 For example Taylor’s theory of scientific management and fordism, which originate from the work of Henry Ford and his car production (Taylor 1947`, Littler 1982`, both cited in THOMPSON, P. & MCHUGH, D.

2002. Work organisations: a critical introduction, Basingstoke, Palgrave.).

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21 the subject. Classical theories on this theme are Piore and Sabels’ (1984) "flexible specialization" and Atkinson’s model of "the flexible firm" (Atkinsen 1984 cited in Thompson and McHugh, 2002, and in Olberg, 2003). Both theories emphasize fast changes in the market´s demand for products and services, and the need for more customized products. To meet these demands, companies need to reorganize production, invest in flexible technology, and hire a more adaptable and flexible work force. (Olberg, 2003, Torp, 2005).

Other examples of contributions are the description of the development from fordism to post-fordism. The fordist corporation is characterized by hierarchical structures, formal rules, and close control as opposed to a post-fordist corporation, which is characterized by decentralized leader ship, horizontal communication, and self-regulating units (Mulgan, 1989 cited in Thompson and McHugh, 2002). The change from machine age to information age refers to the massive growth in information technology (Hamel and Prahaøad 1996 cited in Thompson and McHugh, 2002). In the mid 1990s, the term new economy was widely used to describe the changes in social, political, and economic life due to the development of information technology (Lipsey 2001 cited in Torp, 2005). Regardless of the names for these changes, familiar themes are the replacement of hierarchies by networks, collaboration and participation instead of rules and commands.

According to the Norwegian researcher, Hege Torp (2005) the most common Norwegian label for these turbulent times is det nye arbeidslivet, the new working life. This is used both descriptively for changes identified, and normatively for future changes and challenges. The expression has no obvious parallel in international writings. An account of changes in Norwegian working life, based on analysis of the Work and Business study (Arbeids- og bedriftsundersøkelsen, 2003), is given by Torp (2005). Presented here is a short summary of some results that are relevant to this thesis:

There is an increased use of performance-related pay, especially in companies without collective agreements and/or with foreign ownership. Companies with performance-related pay have a more qualified work force then average. On-the-job training and education is widespread and increasing. The training is technology based, and the most extensive training is given in companies with a new IT structure, and where the employees use

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22 computers daily. The individual-oriented personnel strategies are in general more common, but clearly most are in Anglo-American subsidiaries.

3.1.1 Knowledge society

In the current debate, the core values of the modern society are emphasized by the label knowledge society. It relates to employees having work tasks that involve generating and transferring knowledge (Guldbrandsen, 2000). This is what Alvesson (2004) refers to as knowledge-intensive work. Work defined as knowledge-intensive is typically comprised of intellectual and analytical tasks that require an extensive theoretical education and experienced employees to perform successfully (Alvesson, 2004). In the knowledge society there is an increasing number of knowledge-intensive companies where the competence and knowledge of the employees are vital (Torp, 2005).

3.1.2 New personnel strategies

The competition for and specialization in the products and production increase the significance of company-specific skills, and therefore the companies have to invest in training and education. When the employers’ knowledge and education is the most important resource for the company, it is likely to affect the relations between the organization and the individual. It can be claimed that the knowledge belongs to and moves with the employee rather than staying with the organization. This ownership of knowledge will change status of employees, since the companies are dependent on their loyalty to get a return on their investments. The companies need to have strategies for recruiting, developing and keeping competent employees. Therefore, management needs to develop horizontal co-ordination with collegial and collaborative methods (Torp, 2005 p. 16, Thompson and McHugh, 2002 p. 162). Rules and control in earlier strategies are replaced by a focus on high qualifications, adaptability, and changeability. Examples of strategies that implement aspects of these concepts are Human Resource Management, Total Quality Management, Lean Management, and Knowledge Management. Many of these strategies place the employees in the centre to control and plan the company’s future need for a

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23 competent and qualified work force (Torp, 2005, Olberg, 2003). The management of personnel is a part of the company´s overall long term strategies (Olberg, 2003). An important feature of new personnel strategies is the increased use of performance-related pay (Torp, 2005).

3.1.3 Human Resource Management

The notion of human resource management (HRM) appeared in the 1980s with a dual usage. This was both a new way of describing the field of people management and a distinctive approach to management of employees (Thompson and McHugh, 2002 p. 52).

The basic assumption is that humans are a resource equivalent to finance, and the emphasis is on integrating “personnel issues” within the overall business strategy. HRM can be distinguished in harder and softer versions. The hard version is related to Strategic Management, which stresses that that management of employees shall be performed at all levels of the organization in order to create and sustain a competitive advantage. From this point of view, HRM is a systemic and rational tool that can be used both to support organisational changes and to measure and mobilize employee competence and performance. The softer version is focused on the relation of employees to the organization.

The aim is to enhance employee commitment and involvement. This is the origin to HR departments in many cases have a prominent role in changing processes in order to define and measure value changes. The softer version of HRM can be associated to teamwork, quality, and continuous improvement with the goal of encouraging employees to “go beyond contract,” that is, to perform more than they necessarily are required to (Thompson and McHugh, 2002 p.53).

Human Resource Management has been reviewed and discussed. For example, there has been much discussion about the extent to which HRM adds something new to existing personnel management strategies used in the US , or if HRM is just the same ’package’, with new wrapping (Legge, 1999).

Today, HR is a common label for personnel management without reference to a specific strategy. In Norway, the term HR has replaced the word personnel in many

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24 organizations, private as well as public. For example, Personnel department (personale avdeling) has become HR department, and Personnel Manager (Personale sjef) is often called HR Manager. In Microsoft Norway, HR is used to refer to the management of employees in the company. When I use the term HR or Human Resources, I refer to management of employees in general, without reference to specific strategies.

3.1.4 Knowledge Intensive firms

Alvesson (2004) elaborates on the theme Knowledge Intensive Firms (KIF). KIF refers to large firms employing substantial numbers of people working with complex tasks that call for autonomy and use of judgments (Alvesson, 2004p.1). He points out that the KIF theme goes well beyond a focus on just knowledge in organizations. It includes many other interesting features of knowledge-intensive work such as complex social and political processes, identity and motivation, and issues about marketing and competition. KIFs are organizations that offer the use of advanced knowledge or knowledge-based products to the market. Typical examples of knowledge intensive firms are law, consultancy, IT development and market research firms. The core activities in these companies are based on the intellectual skills of a very large portion of the work force deployed not only in development but also in the sale of products and in service work (Alvesson, 2004 pp. 17-24).

A large section of the employees has an academic education and relevant experience.

Intellectual skills and theory-based knowledge is a key criterion for employment, and both management and other employees devote a lot of interest in developing, sharing, and utilizing knowledge. The organizational structure is generally not very hierarchal but rather flat and open, with collegial relationships across position levels. Knowledge workers usually have a high degree of autonomy in their work situation. The individual workers often have the best general insights into the problem areas and situational expertise may often carry more authority than a formal position.

Since the knowledge workers are the most crucial resource for knowledge intensive companies, they have to spend a lot of effort in recruiting and/or developing their employees. Alvesson distinguishes between Human Capital Advantage and Human Process

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25 Advantage; the former refers to the employment of talent and the latter refers to processes within a firm such as cooperation, training, and development, and the establishment of organizational culture (Alvesson, 2004 p. 139). For KIF´s it is important to secure people’s satisfaction and loyalty to the company in order to attract and retain a qualified workforce.

Alvesson proposed the notion of personal concepts to refer to a company´s basic ideas behind its HRM strategies.

The personal concepts refers to an idea or conception of employees in relation to the organization and the effort to define the motivational and developmental basis for the employee-employer relationship, which an organization develops and uses as a starting point for and key theme in personnel-HRM strategies. (Alvesson, 2004 p. 147)

Alvesson’s definition incorporates an idea of the kind of employee the company wants to attract, what they will offer of rewards and benefits and to what extent these relates to development and competence. It can also involve ideas about how to shape and associate the employees to the organization through identity, motivation, and culture. The personal concept may influence not only HRM systems but also the whole organization--its work structure and task, and the kind of competence and results it wants to achieve (Alvesson, 2004).

3.2 Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management became popular in the 1990s. The book, The Knowledge Creating Company by Nonaka and Takeuchi published in 1995, is by many regarded as the starting point for the public interest in Knowledge Management as an international research field (Sandvik, 2001). The ideas emerged in response to demands in the knowledge society and the development of communication technologies that created access to computerized networks and real-time interaction. Knowledge Management provides various perspectives on how to manage and control recourses in form of humans and knowledge. The four basic processes in knowledge management is creating, storing/retrieving, transferring, and applying knowledge. Both practitioners and academics have adapted and developed these

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26 ideas across a broad range of disciplines (Alvesson, 2004, Nonaka and Peltokorpi, 2006, Alavi and Leidner, 2001).

3.2.1 Perspectives on knowledge

Nonaka and Peltokorpi (2006) have reviewed the 20 most frequently cited KM articles published in management journals between 1993 and 2003. They give an account of different perspectives on some of the most basic themes in KM. One of the most important discussions within KM is the complex nature of knowledge. It has been usual to distinguish knowledge from data and information, where data is raw numbers, images, and words.

Information is data arranged in meaningful patterns. Information is a message with a sender and a receiver. Knowledge is about beliefs, commitment, judgment, intentions. and action (Nonaka and Peltokorpi, 2006, Davenport and Prusak, 1998). Nonaka concludes that

”information is a flow of messages, while knowledge is created and organized by the very flow of information, anchored on the commitment and beliefs of its holder” (Nonaka, 1994 p. 15). Davenport and Prusak (1998) offer a definition of knowledge that expresses the characteristics that make knowledge both valuable and difficult to manage:

Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of knowers. In organizations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practices, and norms. (Davenport and Prusak, 1998 p. 5)

Examples of taxonomies used to classify different types of knowledge are know-that and know-how, declarative and procedural knowledge; perhaps the most frequently used is tacit and explicit knowledge. Know-that/know-how (Brown and Duguid 1998 cited in dePaula and Fischer, 2005) and knowledge-that/knowledge-how (Ryle 1949 cited in Nonaka and Peltokorpi, 2006) and declarative and procedural knowledge represent attempts to link knowledge to action and practise. The notion of tacit and explicit knowledge was first introduced by Michael Polyani (cited in Nonaka, 1994, and in Nonaka and Peltokorpi, 2006)

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27 but was made popular through Nonakas’ (1994) theory of organizational knowledge creation. This taxonomy refers to an assumption that most of our knowledge is difficult to articulate because it is grounded in our experiences, actions, and involvements and is more or less unconscious to us. Explicit knowledge is theoretical knowledge and information we can put in words, but represents only the tip of the iceberg compared to the entire body of possible knowledge (Nonaka, 1994). There are differences in opinion about to what extent taxonomies like this are understood as complementary or exclusive: Is knowledge attached to the knower and the individual, or should it be treated as collective phenomena?

According to some researchers, collective knowledge has to be understood as an aggregation of individual knowledge. Others propose that collective knowledge is not reducible to individuals, and some scholars emphasize the socially constructed nature of knowledge. In most KM works, collective knowledge is embedded into artefacts, culture and identity, and routines (Nonaka and Peltokorpi, 2006).

3.2.2 Approaches to Knowledge Management

Leidner, Alavi, and Kayworthe (2006) describe two fundamental approaches to knowledge management: the process approach and the practice approach. The first focuses on knowledge management IT systems, and the second is more concerned with organizational and human relations. The process approach involves use and development of information technologies to enhance the quality of knowledge creation and distribution in the organizations. In this approach, knowledge is often viewed as an object that can be codified, stored, and accessed by processes and technologies, or knowledge is apprehended as a condition of access to information, where information is organized, codified, and made searchable (Alavi and Leidner, 2001). Organizations that adopt the process approach often implement formalized processes to collect and disseminate knowledge throughout the organization. On the other hand, in the practice approach to knowledge management, it is assumed that a great part of organizational knowledge is tacit and impossible to codify, collect, store, and distribute by formalized processes and technology. The focus is on building social environments to facilitate the sharing of knowledge through interaction (Leidner et al., 2006).

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28 Mørch, Moen, Hauge and Ludvigsen (2008) distinguish between three perspectives on KM, the technical, socio-technical, and the socio-cultural perspective, where the first two are closely connected to the process and practice approach. However, Mørch et al. also distinguish between first and second generation of Knowledge Management. The first generation of KM is concerned with managing knowledge and skills that are present and identified in the organizations. The second generation focuses on creation of new knowledge, and the tools and processes that facilitate it. Like the process approach, the technical perspective focuses on capturing, storing, utilizing, and distributing knowledge by technologies such as databases and information systems. The purpose of these systems is often to improve work performance and well-defined work skills. The socio-technical perspective on KM focuses more on the users than on the technologies. The aim is to connect people in the organization to enable knowledge sharing. Tools used in this perspective are interactive systems for social networking and information exchange--for example blogs and wikis. Shortcomings of both the technical perspective and the socio- technical perspective are that there is a gap between the context of information design and the context in which employees use the information. This gap may lead to the knowledge management system not being as useful as expected. The socio-cultural perspective on KM focuses on knowledge and learning, which is perceived as a social and participative activity.

In this perspective, knowledge management is about how tools can mediate this activity and how new knowledge can be constructed in the collective practises of organizations.

The researchers dePaula and Fischer (2005) propose an approach to KM they call a design perspective. Through this perspective, they view knowledge as collaboratively designed and constructed, and emphasize innovation, continuous learning, and collaboration as a process (dePaula and Fischer, 2005). The design perspective implies that stakeholders create new knowledge as they carry out their work practice. The goal is to enable innovative practices at a social level by supporting collaboration and communication.

Knowledge is distributed in a network of stakeholders and artefacts, and is constructed and accepted during the work process. Learning is closely connected to problem solving.

Problems are not given, but they are situated and appear and must be solved in a context.

According to dePaula and Fischer (2005) this perspective has two essential aspects that

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29 distinguish it from other KM perspectives. First, stakeholders, not specialists, create knowledge. Second, knowledge is a collaborative by-product of work. Knowledge is integrated into potential solutions by the stakeholder at use time, rather than being predefined at design time by a design specialist.

3.2.3 Knowledge Management at Microsoft

In 1997 Davenport (1997)conducted a case study on knowledge management at Microsoft. He followed the implementation of a project called SPUD (Skills Planning und Development) which had started in 1995. The project involved building an online system that contained a competency structure, job rating systems and ratings database, and competency levels for employees. The goal for the project was to create an online competency profile for jobs and employees within Microsoft IS. This competency model would be used to transfer and build knowledge. The project was expected to lead to better matching of employees to jobs and work teams. The SPUD project consisted of five major components:

• Development of a structure of competency types and levels

• Defining the competencies required for particular jobs

• Rating the performance of individual employees in particular jobs based on the competencies;

• Implementing the knowledge competencies in an online system

• Linkage of the competency model to learning offerings

Microsoft defined different levels of competencies and created a four-level model.

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30 Figure 3.1 Different levels of competencies

Foundations skills are the entry-level skills for people to be employed in a certain profession. Local or unique competencies are the advanced skills that apply to a particular job type. Global competencies should be present in all employees within a particular function or organization, and Universal competencies are knowledge important to everyone employed in Microsoft.

Within each of the four levels of competencies, there were two different types, explicit and implicit competencies. Explicit competencies involved knowledge of and experience with specific tools or methods. Implicit competencies involved more abstract thinking and reasoning skills. In Microsoft, the implicit competencies were expected to stay relatively stable over time, while the explicit competencies change frequently in line with development and changes. Within each type, there are also four defined skill levels: basic, working, leadership, and expert.

According to Davenport (1997), another important part of the project involved evaluating workers in relation to their current job. The evaluation process was a rating process where both employee and supervisor rated the employee’s competencies. The rating process was intended to serve as an occasion for conversation about the employees competencies. The goal was to build a competency inventory that could be used all across Microsoft.

A key goal of the project was to link competency profiles to educational resources.

This was not done during the time of the case study, but the intention was to use the

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31 system to assess course demand on the basis of competency level and role descriptions and the competencies they required.

The SPUD project was developed by a unit within Microsoft’s internal Information Technology (IT) group. The IT group consisted of over 1000 employees who developed applications, built infrastructures, and operated computers and networks. The unit was responsible for training and education for IT personnel. The system was built on SQL server and should have a Web front for easy access around the world through Microsoft’s Intranet.

The implementation of the SPUD project was done in the IT group with all employees and their jobs in the IT group.

Davenport presents some issues that were determined after the implementation of SPUD in the IT group. One of these issues was how the competency model would spread to other software developers within Microsoft outside the IT group. Another issue was what role the Microsoft HR function would have relative to the competency model. HR were not initially part of the project, even though they had made some small contributions. An expectation for the SPUD program was that it should become a tool for institutionalizing innovation in the fast-changing IT industry. Davenport gives an example of how this was supposed to be done.

If Bill Gates, for example, determined that employees at Microsoft needed to master a new form of knowledge (e.g., Web-based application development), then he could force development of the competency by insisting upon its presence in all job competency requirements. A means by which needed innovations could be identified and rapidly implemented would seem to be critical in Microsoft’s business and industry. (Davenport, 1997 p. 6)

Davenport notes that the project manager realized that the success of the project depended upon whether or not the individuals who would use SPUD felt that they were getting something from it. The project manager felt that employees and supervisors had to feel that they contributed to the development of templates for jobs. Then, she thought, they would buy into the competency model because they had a hand in the design and implementation of it.

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32 Davenport states that this ambitious attempt to advance knowledge by focusing on individual knowledge competencies requires the active involvement by everyone in the organization (Davenport, 1997).

3.2.4 Eight factors important to make knowledge managements projects succeed

From this and thirty other case studies, Davenport and colleagues have identified eight factors important for knowledge management projects to succeed (Davenport et al., 1998, Davenport and Prusak, 1998). These are:

 Link to economic performance or industry value

Knowledge management projects can be expensive for the company and therefore must be linked to economic benefit or competitive advantage. This can be in money saved or money earned, or more indirect in form of other measures like customer satisfaction or timesaving. For example, in another case in Davenport’s study, the company measured the amount of knowledge reused in form of proposals, presentations and deliverables. They measured the contribution of the company’s knowledge repository to closing sales (Davenport et al., 1998).

 Technical and organizational infrastructure

According to Davenport et al., knowledge projects are more likely to succeed when they use the broader infrastructure of both technology and organization. Technology infrastructures are tools that provide opportunities for learning and gives access to knowledge. Examples from the research by Davenport et al. (1998) are Lotus Notes and web-based intranets. Organizational structures mean that there are roles and groups whose members have the skills to serve as resources to individual projects.

 Standard, flexible knowledge structure

Successful knowledge management projects benefit from some degree–though not too much--of a knowledge structure. Because knowledge is naturally fluid and closely linked to the people who hold it, its categories and meanings change

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33 frequently (Davenport and Prusak, 1998 p. 159). The structures of knowledge repositories cannot be too rigid, but must be flexible enough to always reflect the pattern of use.

 Knowledge-friendly culture

A knowledge-friendly organizational culture exists when people have a positive orientation to knowledge and take part in knowledge sharing instead of avoiding it in fear of losing a competitive advantage. According to Davenport et al., this participation is one of the most important factors for success with knowledge management, but also the most difficult one to create. Davenport et al. (1998)notes that it is important that the knowledge management project fits the culture.

 Clear purpose and language

Effective and suitable communication around learning and knowledge was important in the cases studied by Davenport et al. (1998). He notes that the language must fit the culture. A statement from a knowledge manager in Davenport’s study explains that “normal business language gives the impression of being fact based, often drawing on military and natural science metaphors. But knowledge management deals with things like complexity, uncertainty, and organic growth. That calls for a new vocabulary and managers aren’t used to it” (Davenport et al., 1998 p. 53).

 Change in motivational practices

The motivation to create, share, and use knowledge is a critical factor for Knowledge Management projects. Approaches to increase motivation should be long-term and linked to the general evaluation and compensation structure.

 Multiple channels for knowledge transfer

Knowledge management projects should facilitate knowledge transfer through both technologies and face-to-face channels. The multiple channels are suitable for different forms of knowledge, and they will reinforce each other.

 Senior management support

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34 Davenport et al. (1998) found that strong support from managers was crucial for transforming–oriented knowledge projects but less necessary in efforts to use knowledge for improving individual functions or processes. The important types of support from managers were that they signaled the value of knowledge, which knowledge was most important, and provided resources for knowledge infrastructures (Davenport et al., 1998, Davenport and Prusak, 1998).

3.2.5 Corporate Culture and Knowledge Management

Davenport et al. emphasise a knowledge-friendly culture as a key factor in making knowledge management projects succeed (Davenport et al., 1998). Leidner et al. (2006) note that culture is widely cited as a challenge to knowledge management initiatives and knowledge sharing. Leidner et al. have conducted a multiple case study to examine how organizational culture influences knowledge management initiatives. They define culture in the context of knowledge management as norms and practices that determine “who is expected to control what knowledge, as well as who must share it, and who can hoard it”

(Delong & Fahey, 2000, cited in Leidner et al., 2006). The study suggests that it is not culture on an organizational level that has the most significant influence on KM strategies; the most significant influence comes from the individual employee’s perception that the culture is individualistic or cooperative. This has an impact on how KM strategies can evolve in the organization and on the migration of knowledge. Organizations that encourage individuals to achieve individual goals and reward individual performance would be considered to have an individualistic culture. Organizations prioritizing collective goals and cooperation and rewards for organizational accomplishments would be considered collectivist. These dimensions of organizational culture emerged as critical in the study. Leidner et al. (2006) state that over time, when the knowledge management project has been established and is evolving with the organization, it begins to reflect the values of the organization and becomes a part of the organizational culture. Knowledge Management strategies then become a part of normal work praxis (Leidner et al., 2006).

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35 3.3 Learning at work

As mentioned earlier, the development of the modern global world and the knowledge society has made the concepts of learning related to work more actual than ever. Changes in society and in technology development happen so quickly that it is impossible to educate people in school with specific knowledge to meet problems in the future, which are unknown at the time of learning. Instead, it is often argued that the ability to learn, that is, sort out what is worth learning from what is not, has become more important. This ability provides the basis for future learning in relation to working life and is in line with development (Illeris, 2004). As the previous presentation of Knowledge Management showed, there has been an interest in web-based learning in working life since the mid 1990s. Knowledge Management is only one concept of many that deals with learning in relation to information technology. Mørch and Skaanes (2010) use the term web- based learning portal and web portal to refer to technology that aims to mediate work and learning.

3.3.1 Pedagogical approach to web based learning

Mørch, Engen, and Åsand (2004) discuss e-learning both in general and in relation to a research project about the introduction of e-learning in a Norwegian service company.

They identify three dimensions that have impact on e-learning: technological, pedagogical, and organizational. The technological dimension refers to technological factors such as systems and tools. The pedagogical dimension is about company-specific teaching programs, theories of workplace learning, and conceptual frameworks for evaluating individual and organizational learning. New ways of learning and working is an organizational issue, as is the participation of employees on multiple levels in the organization (Mørch et al., 2004 p.142). The researchers use the term E-learning to refer to technologies as well as strategies (...) that “must take technological, pedagogical and organizational concerns into account” (Mørch et al., 2004p. 142)

Mørch and colleagues note that there is little pedagogical theory included in e- learning literature, and therefore they present a conceptual framework that can serve as an explanation when doing research on e-learning. However, Mørch et al. emphasize that the

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36 conceptual framework is suitable for studying the “introduction of e-learning in service oriented, computer networked organizations” (Mørch et al., 2004 p. 143), but it can be assumed that the framework is also relevant when studying e-learning that is well established in the organization. The conceptual framework consists of aspects of situated learning, master-apprenticeship, and learning on demand. The notion of situated learning in working life refers to situations where an employee needs to consult a secondary source such as a colleague, manual, or computer in order to find an answer to a question or problem, and by doing so learns new information that is relevant for job performance (Lave and Wenger 1991, Suchman 1987, both referred in Mørch et al., 2004). Apprenticeship learning is when an employee learns how to perform parts of the job from a more experienced colleague (Collins, Brown and Newman, 1989, and Nielsen and Kvale 1997, both referred in Mørch et al., 2004). This form of learning often involves situations that can be difficult to predict, and where “learning-by-doing,” with scaffolding from the more experienced colleague, can be the best way to gain required practical knowledge. Learning on demand (Burton, Brown, and Fischer, 1984, and Fischer, 1991 both referred in Mørch et al., 2004) is a computerized form of apprenticeship learning and situated learning. An example of “learning on demand is how a computer can be utilized to find information to resolve a difficult situation associated with the task at hand” (Mørch et al., 2004 p. 145).

This could be done by providing a contact to a more experienced colleague or automatic delivery of relevant information from a knowledge repository. Nevertheless, as Mørch et al.

(2004)note, learning at work not only involves individuals solving work related problems, it also involves how the organization as a whole learns and evolves, and how learning is related to the shared goals of the company.

3.3.2 Primary/secondary work

In order to capture learning processes in a service industry area where work includes frequent customer interaction, Mørch and Skaanes (2010) and Mørch, Engen, and Åsand (2004) distinguish between primary work and secondary work. Primary work is the main work to be accomplished during daily work. This is often described in a work description.

Primary work is updated according to demands in society, customer’s needs, changes in the company etc. Secondary work supports and enhances primary work or questions and

A case study of knowledge management in a large software company: How knowledge workers cope with large amounts of information